Literature
Subway: After the Irish
An excerpt from Subway: After the Irish, a book by Horace Mungin, a former employee for the New York City Transit Authority. Chapter Three: 'Motorman, Run That Dog Over.'
Apr 10, 2009,
07:20
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Literature
Hip-Hop's Brand New Bag
In Book of Rhymes, Adam Bradley argues that rappers use the conventional forms of rhythm and structure in unconventional ways.
By Sidik Fofana
Apr 6, 2009,
11:54
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Literature
Contest: Poems of Witness
The deadline for the Split This Rock 2009 Adult Poetry Contest has passed. The contest benefits the next Split This Rock Poetry Festival - Washington, DC, March 10-13, 2010. $1,000 awarded for poems of provocation & witness. Patricia Smith, judge. More information here...
Mar 17, 2009,
10:25
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Literature
Serious History in a Comic
In its second edition, the comic book Still I Rise covers history, from slavery to the election of President Barack Obama in November 2008.
By Sidik Fofana
Feb 6, 2009,
12:16
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Literature
Poems for the Day
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| Elizabeth Alexander |
Moments after President Obama gave his inaugural address, the poet Elizabeth Alexander took the stage to read her poem “Praise Song for the Day: A Poem for Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration.” Alice Walker,
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| Alice Walker |
the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, read her poem “The World Has Changed” on Democracy Now!’s Inauguration Day special.
Jan 22, 2009,
11:23
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Literature
Notable Books of 2008
Even though these books were not reviewed on SeeingBlack.com in 2008, they are worth your time and attention.
By Sidik Fofana
Jan 15, 2009,
11:24
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Literature
Wild-Style in the Bronx
Ivan Sanchez’s coming-of-age memoir, follows in the tradition of narratives, such as Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land.
By Sidik Fofana
Jan 15, 2009,
11:10
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Literature
A Writer's Talking Shotgun
Poet Saul Williams is nothing short of sick. For all you not hip to the hiptalk, that means that Williams is "quick, cunning and lives in the art he creates." A review of his book Said the Shotgun to the Head
by Miya Nashonne
Nov 12, 2008,
12:42
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Literature
Poetry and Politics
Kevin Powell’s No Sleep Till Brooklyn shows that the politics of culture, identity and Black survival are serious causes that drive the author's life work.
By Sidik Fofana
Jul 30, 2008,
20:21
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Literature
Lessons from Hip Hop
If you ever did the wop, wrote down lyrics to your favorite hip-hop song, or had Word Up! posters plastered on your wall, check it this excerpt from the book The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip-Hop's Greatest Songs
By Felicia Pride.
May 14, 2008,
11:35
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Literature
Real Portraits of the Hood
In Seconds of My Life, photographer Jamel Shabazz offers a testimony to the poor and working-class -- in New York City’s boroughs, Brazil’s favelas and Jamaica’s shantytowns.
By Sidik Fofana
May 6, 2008,
11:14
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Literature
The Skull Cage Key
HARLEM, USA, 2041 A.D.-- How much would you pay for a drug that takes you all the way out of your head -- and into the mind and memories of another? An excerpt of the new futuristic, science fiction novel from Michel Marriott
May 1, 2008,
12:41
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Literature
Being a Black Man
Being a Black Man, an anthology of writings on Black manhood, outlines the major issues that Black men face today and, more importantly, the strides made toward addressing them.
By Sidik Fofana
Mar 13, 2008,
12:25
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Literature
Coltrane as a Mortal
In Coltrane: The Story of a Sound, New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff humanizes a near saint, an act that might make even the most tangential Coltrane fan a bit defensive.
By Sidik Fofana
Feb 28, 2008,
16:32
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Literature
Our Own Dark Designs
In Dark Designs and Visual Culture, cultural critic Michele Wallace talks openly about how heated criticism early in her career traumatized her personal life and health.
By Natalie Maxwell
Jan 30, 2008,
13:45
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Literature
A Dominican Curse and Death
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, about a Dominican family that includes a nerd from New Jersey, is not a political story. It's a personal tale with political overtones.
By Sidik Fofana
Jan 30, 2008,
13:19
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Literature
Advertisement
 |
| www.splitthisrock.org |
Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness, March 20-23, 2008, Washington, DC.
You are invited to our nation’s capital for a festival that celebrates our great tradition of poetry of witness and resistance. www.splitthisrock.org
Dec 31, 2007,
13:16
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Literature
Last Word on the N Word
Classify Jabari Asim's book The N Word as stone cold non-fiction! In picking apart this inciteful word, he digs deep into history untouched by most cultural critics.
By Sidik Fofana
Dec 10, 2007,
10:15
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Literature
Walter Mosley: Write On!
Walter Mosley offers a stringent but accessible three-month plan for writers of all levels to finish their novels. By Sidik Fofana
Sep 25, 2007,
09:28
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Literature
Baraka's Newest Tales
Tales of the Out & The Gone is a vibrant and lively collection that shows Amiri Baraka's diversity, imagination and ability to evolve as a storyteller. By Sidik Fofana
Aug 15, 2007,
11:06
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Literature
An African Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah’s memoir of his experience as boy soldier in war-torn Sierra Leone in the 1990s is startling and brings to the forefront the urgent issue of child abuse across the world. By Sidik Fofana
Aug 15, 2007,
10:47
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Literature
ADV: WE GOTTA HAVE IT:
In WE GOTTA HAVE IT: TWENTY YEARS OF SEEING BLACK AT THE MOVIES, 1986-2006, SeeingBlack.com's editor and film critic Esther Iverem provides an essential overview of the “New Wave” in Black cinema—a complex, often surprising perspective on art, society, and history. More than 400 film reviews are included, along with essays and interviews. Check here for information and tour dates.
Apr 9, 2007,
23:02
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Literature
To the Break of Dawn
In this excerpt from his new book, To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic, SeeingBlack.com contributor William Jelani Cobb deals with hip hop's storytelling tradition, the relationship of that tradition to the blues and autobiographies that artists have given through the music.
Apr 6, 2007,
07:45
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Literature
A Poem for James Brown
Inspired by Mark Anthony Neal's article, "The Last Soul Brother," Miriam-Ruth Garnett wrote Rumination on Shelley (In Memoriam, James Brown).
Feb 14, 2007,
21:06
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